Nonpareil Handmade Anxi Qing Xiang TieGuanYin Oolong

February Sipdown Prompt – An Afternoon Tea

I feel really bad for letting this tea go past its “best by” date, but it still tasted wonderful today. Teas like this make me vow to get rid of all the flavored tea I own and just concentrate on orthodox, whole leaf tea. Then the pendulum swings and I place a Lupicia order.

Since we quit having gong fu tea service at night because of having issues with caffeine, a lot of my best teas have been neglected because I either don’t have time to make them properly by day or I don’t have time to properly enjoy them by day. I need to fix that.

I plan to focus on sipping down this one, continue the sipdowns, and then I need to order some fresh 2023 green teas and after that, new oolongs. I didn’t order greens for the past two years because I had so many teas that needed to be cleared out of the cupboard and I am almost there.

This was enjoyed in the afternoon sun today, shelling roasted salted peanuts on the patio. Nice pairing! The forecast of mostly cloudy all day proved to be wrong and we had beautiful sun and temps in the 70’s, so Sam and I stayed out practically the entire day. Ashman joined us around 3.

The leaves expanded to completely fill the infuser of my Stump pot. Beautiful olive green. Floral, smooth, a little butter, vegetal in aroma, a little like juice from peas that have been buttered. Not perfume-y, just nice floral, and also not a roasty toasty TGY. This is one I would repurchase one day. Two Western steeps.

For the longest time, I’ve struggled with tieguanyins. Whether their flavour balance is wrong, or they are too sharp and vegetal, or they lack depth in texture and aftertaste. This tea however really ticks most of the boxes for what I want in a tieguanyin. This tea is the definition of a really good and balanced tea.

I got the Autumn 2021 harvest of this tea from my recent Teavivre order. This tea has the distinct softness and nuance of a autumn oolong tea. Beautiful, vibrant handmade leaves, and honestly the handmade inconsistency of the leaves make this tea look even better. This tea also has a complex aroma with a rich and thick liquor. The flavour is sublime, balanced to perfection with the right amount of acidity and sourness with the buttery creaminess and verdant vegetal notes to round it off. The texture is out of this world and I’d rate it a 11/10. Dryness and astringency at the front of the mouth, juiciness on the sides and at the bottom and a light twang of bite at the back. There is this rising wave of florality in the texture as you drink this tea, making the texture and experience of this tea an all-rounder that exceeds expectations.

Beautiful, refreshing finish with a balanced character and a noticeable warming cha-qi. This tea also managed to last 9-10 steeps, which is pretty darn good if you ask me. With all the good things, there are some areas to improve as well. I wish that this tea had more pop to the flavour and that for the flavour notes to last for longer. This tea could do a bit more in terms of aftertaste and complexity of the taste, and a richer aroma would make this tea top notch.

Best tieguanyin I’ve ever had thus far, and it really deserves its “nonpareil” title. A bummer that I only bought the sample, definitely will need to buy more in the future. The price as well, such a deal for such a good tea!

Thanks so much for the samples, Teavivre!  I was looking forward to this special tea.  The leaves are such a vibrant collection of greens in color.  The scent of the unsteeped leaves is like a fresh Spring lawn.  I think the water cooled too long on the first cup, I knew the flavors weren’t popping enough.  The second steep was a flavor burst of mostly sugary sweetness.  Wow, it’s like I added sugar to the mug.  Otherwise there is the lightest flavor of starchy yams hiding behind the sugar.  Possibly squash and hints of pear or other fruits.  Starchiness of pears!  The second steep was the real winner.  By the third and fourth steeps, the flavor was muted, definitely not as sugary sweet.  Oddly, the flavors were a little indistinguishable after the second steep. I’m not sure what happened but it’s probably all in how I’m steeping it, if this tea isn’t as fussy as I think it is.   Maybe Western steeping isn’t ideal for this tea. So this isn’t really what I’m looking for in an oolong, without that longevity in Western steeps, but that second steep was divine.
Steep #1 // 1 heaping teaspoon for a not-quite-full mug // 25 minutes after boiling // rinse // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // 20 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep   
Steep #3 //  15 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep
Steep #4 // just boiled // 2 minute steep
Harvest: 2019

I hope everyone who celebrates is having a great Thanksgiving! That ET commercial… I can’t even. They are trying to kill me with 80s nostalgia today. haha

This tea is a light oolong with a sweet clean floral aroma. It has a light, smooth texture with a sweet flavor of orchids. This is a high quality TGY with a pleasing, lingering aftertaste.